Excited! Just bought a Polar F4 off of Ebay!

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  • petunia
    petunia Posts: 336 Member
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    yeah! I'm so excited! I can't wait for it to get here...

    Anyone ever worn it all day to get a 'full day' reading?? Would that be accurate??

    I've been using my F4 since Nov. 2007 and like it very much. I was curious about the cals. that I burn just doing nothing for 24hrs. I wore it for 24 hours one day. I put it on and started it at 12:00 midnight (slept with it going) and kept it going until 12:00 midnight the next night (by the way, I slept for 10 hours). I didn't do any physical activity that whole day... I just sat around at home and watched TV. I feel that the monitor is usually pretty accurate about the cals. I burn while working out and I've lost a lot of weight while using it, however, at the end of the 24 hrs. it read that I had burned 2,400 cals! My estimated BMR is around 1,475 cals a day (based on info from My Fitness Pal tools). I really don't think the HR monitor was accurate at all. Maybe it isn't meant to measure cals. burned over such long periods of time?

    You could try the same thing and I'm curious what your reading would be?!:huh:

    I plan on trying it for a 24 hour period... I might do it tomorrow... well let you know what it does! I wore it today while I was cleaning my house for 2 hours... burned 450 calories.. don't know what to compare that to when I'm just sitting at my desk for 2 hours... will have to see I guess!!

    Thanks for the info!
  • petunia
    petunia Posts: 336 Member
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    so I strap on the monitor and it immediately starts reading my HR - resting HR was in the 70s..

    so my questions are this (sorry it's taking me forever to get to the point) - may sound like a stupid question, but the higher your HR the more calories you burn, right? So, if I could, to get the most out of my workout (and burn the most calories) I should get to my high HR and stay there as long as I can, right? Is there anything to the 'ranges' that say to burn fat you should be in the lower range?? If that's the case, then I wouldn't burn as many calories and I don't think I could handle going 'slow' to keep my heart rate that low???????

    I have some info that I think might help with this as well...
    My fitness trainer recommended that to get an accurate reading of your resting heart rate you should take your pulse for one minute the first thing in the morning before you get out of bed. Do this for three mornings and then average the readings, That should be your true resting heart rate.

    Then, for your heart rate zone goals:

    Train at 60%-70% of your MHR (Maximum Heart Rate) for weight loss.
    Train at 70%-80% of your MHR (Maximum Heart Rate) for cardio-vascular conditioning.

    There is a formula you can use to figure this stuff out:

    FIRST, get your Maximum Heart Rate by taking the number 226 (for women) or 220 (for men) and subtract your age.

    Mine is: 226 - 35 = 191

    Then figure your Heart Rate Reserve:
    Maximum Heart Rate minus your Resting Heart Rate = HHR (Heart Rate Reserve)
    MHR-RHR = HHR

    example: 191-67 = 124

    Then use these formulas:

    Weight Loss:
    Lower Target Heart Rate: (HRR x 60%) + RHR =
    Higher Target Heart Rate: (HRR x 70%) + RHR=

    CardioVascular:
    Lower Target Heart Rate: (HRR x 70%) + RHR =
    Higher Target Heart Rate: (HRR x 80%) + RHR =

    Example:
    My heart rate weight loss zone is 141-153
    (124 x 60%) + 67 = 141 for my lower target zone for weight loss
    (124 x 70%) + 67 = 153 for my higher target zone for weight loss

    Hope this isn't too complicated and is helpful good luck!:tongue:

    This is awesome information.. thank you! I'll take my pulse in the AM for the next few days and see how it works out.. I'm 35 also, so I have a feeling our numbers might be really close!!

    Thanks again!
  • littlespoon
    littlespoon Posts: 165
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    I am thinking of buying one too, I would be interested to hear how your "all-day" wear went.
  • petunia
    petunia Posts: 336 Member
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    I am thinking of buying one too, I would be interested to hear how your "all-day" wear went.

    Well, I'm not sure... :huh:

    I wore it (almost) 24 hours... the chest strap fell off of me somewhere in the night (but I think towards morning) and stopped counting calories... when it stopped it was at 2200...

    This seems really high to me, considering I puposely wore it on a day I didn't exercise... I have a sedentary job, but I chase my kids around in the evenings... so I suppose it's possible that 2200 is accurate, but seems a little high...

    basically, I decided to wear the monitor when I'm exercising, and even sometimes when I'm not, but I know I'm going to be more active than normal (cleaning the house, playing outside with the kids, etc).

    I love having it for exercise (confirmed I'm burning about 600 calories in my step class)... I find it keeps me honest and not 'resting' too long during class - it keeps you conscious of your heart rate and keeping it up!

    All in all, I'm happy with my purchase... :bigsmile:

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